The Gotham Knights
by jumpingjaxx13
Summary: When the world is threatened by a new, supernatural terrorist group, two groups of the mightiest people must combine in order to save it. But, with grudges and paranoia ever alive and poisoning the atmosphere between them, will they be able to save themselves from each other? Will contain slash. Rated T for language.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Blank walls to his left. Blank walls to his right. Blank walls in front of him. Blank walls behind him. That seemed to be all there was in that accursed room. Blank walls. Jonathan Crane sighed and closed his eyes, trying to go to sleep while doing his best to keep himself awake. He didn't want another hideous, inexplicable nightmare.

Crane was, or used to be, a psychiatrist. Before Fear Night he was the head of Arkham Asylum where he performed experiments and stored away 'favors' to a certain deceased drug dealer known as Falcone. It was also where he kept his toxin. It made sense to him at the time. Keep the nutty gas in the nuthouse. Nobody would pay much attention the inane after effects of the toxin because all of its inhabitants were already crazy, right? Especially him.

Just because he was a little off in the head didn't mean he wasn't qualified for the position he was in. He had always respected the power of the mind over the body. This was probably a good thing since he was now prisoner in his old workplace, tied up in a straightjacket and propped against the head of a plastic bed. We're not there yet though. He found the mind to be fascinating and he studied it, taking his curiosity to college with him, graduating best in class and boosting himself up to the best in the business in Gotham. There was only one person he knew of who loved the mind and its power more than he did and that would be the Scarecrow. Only the Scarecrow was set on using it for dark intentions. Unfortunately, Crane could do little to stop him, for the Scarecrow was Crane himself. Having the voices whispering dark and cunning words into his head and finding himself around the wrong people, he soon found himself in a life or death situation with the League of Shadows. They wanted his toxin spread across the city's water system so that they could bring Gotham to its knees. His first thought was that this was just another crazy that needed to be admitted into his asylum and did nothing. That was, until, he began receiving death threats. That was when the Scarecrow took over once again, mass producing the toxin and dumping it into the water pipes under Arkham. By the time Crane realized exactly what he was planning to do, he was too deep in his work to dig himself back out. After the Batman took out a few other villains and saved the city from a possible time bomb set off by the Bane, he was landed here, tied up in Arkham Asylum, his own home betraying him. That was when the nightmares began.

The same thing every night, Crane could not make sense of them. He was in a room alone with tall stone pillars and shiny marble floors. He would walk forward and peek out a window where a flaming metal 'G' would fly toward his head, crashing through the window and landing on the floor. Then the lights would all turn out and millions of pairs of devilish red eyes would surround him, each one accompanied by a Cheshire cat smile. They would start moving in circles, spinning faster and faster until he was surrounded by blurs, forcing him backward towards the flames where he would always stumble and fall before the whole place ignited and the building collapsed on top of him, screams of an unknown man filling the air around him. It just didn't make sense to him. Then again, not much did anymore.

* * *

"What are they doing now?" The agent in the control room spun around and looked up at his boss. Nick Fury was a tall man with a serious look on his face at all times, a black eye patch covering one of his eyes. Just by that you could tell that this was a man who wouldn't take no for an answer.

The agent turned back to the screen. "Nothing much, sir. Most of them are still contained in Arkham. Wayne, Kyle, and Blake aren't doing much either. I think that Bane fella must've worn them out a bit. As for agents Dent and Dawes, they're off somewhere in Iran completing their explosives training."

Nick nodded. "I see. Keep watching, agent."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't keep watching them. For super villains/heroes, they sure were boring. The agent took a deep breath. "Sir, I really don't think they're going to do anything. They actually pretty boring."

Nick smirked. "Well then. I guess we'll just have to make their lives a little more exciting, won't we?" The young agent's eyes lit up. Could he possibly get away from this computer? Nick walked over to the door. "Round up some other good field agents, Mr. Clark, and bring these people to me. The Haminitati aren't going to fight themselves, now are they?" On that note, he walked out of the door, leaving an overexcited new field agent frantically searching through the database to find the best agents in the organization to help him with this prison break.

**Well... whaddaya think? Should I post more? Lemme know please!**

**-jumpingjaxx13**


	2. Dent & Dawes

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my epic OC's**

Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent were thought to be dead. One exploded and one was shot. In the people's minds, no one could survive that. That was the problem with people's minds, though. They were too assuming. In fact, neither Rachel Dawes nor Harvey Dent died during their 'accidents', but instead were salvaged and restored to health by inconspicuous agents working for S.H.E.I.L.D.. The day that they could confidently stand on their own two feet again, they were sent to a special explosives training site in Iran where they could be kept "out of the way until otherwise necessary". In other word, they were being hidden from outside eyes until the time came where their training could be put to good use. That time happened to be now.

Rachel Dawes had just hopped into bed, relishing the feeling of her boyfriend's arms wrapped powerfully around her, when her cell phone rang. The both of them jumped up and stared at the device in shock since neither of them had received any calls (not that they were really supposed to have cell phones anyways). After the third ring, Rachel timorously reached for the phone and held it up to her ear.

"Dawes speaking."

"Agent Dawes, this is Agent Clark of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I've got a message for you from Fury."

Rachel sat up straighter in the bed. "Yes?"

She could feel the devious smirk from the man on the other end just by pressing the phone closer to her ear. "Agent Dawes, you and Agent Dent have been activated. It's time."

No sooner than the last word slipped past his lips did the whirring of a helicopter's blades fill the ears of those still awake at the camp and a beam of light consumed the darkness of the night. The two newly activated agents shot out of bed, swung on jackets, and bolted out the door and into the headlight of the helicopter. They watched as a ladder tumbled from the door and brushed against the dirt, a man with caramel hair and sunglasses propped up on his forehead following closely behind. The man brushed himself off and offered his hand.

"Agent Dawes. Agent Dent." he said as he shook each of their hands. "My name is Sebastian Clark and I represent S.H.I.E.L.D.. We are collecting the best agents to help with an important mission and Director Fury has requested your participation. You in?"

Harvey Dent scratched his head. "Depends. What kind of mission are we talking about?"

Agent Clark acquired a devilish glint in his honey brown eyes. "Now, that I can't tell you until you've already gotten on the helicopter. So, are you coming or not?"

Rachel and Harvey exchanged long, significant glances, conversing with one another by using nothing but the words in their eyes. Growing increasingly impatient, Clark fiddled with a small remote in his pocket, fingers just itching to push the large red button in the middle of it. _Not yet, _he told himself. _Just wait._

Eventually, the two agents looked back at him and nodded. Clark sighed, relief evident on his face as he dropped the remote on the ground. "Great! Hop on board. Agent Barton's there too, so don't be surprised that there's another dude there."

The three agents walked over to the rope ladder and began to climb, unaware of the man standing in the shadows, watching them as they climbed.

Harvey had never been comfortable with heights. Ever since he took his tumble off the building the accursed Batman had pushed him off of, being up too high would give him vertigo. Climbing up this wobbling rope ladder was no exception. His stomach twisted in knots and ached, almost like it was eating itself. His palms were sweaty and he had to force his eyes to focus on the rungs above him so that his vision wouldn't blur. _Just make it up the damn ladder, Dent. _He scolded. _What's really the worst that could happen? _It was that question that jinxed them all for at that moment, gunfire sounded and a man cried out.

Against his better judgment, Harvey looked down to see Agent Clark hanging on the ladder by one hand, clutching his shoulder with the other. Upon closer observation, he could see the expanding stain of blood forming on the sleeve of his white T-Shirt and felt a wave a nausea wash over him and his heart picked up speed. Tearing his eyes away from the droplets of blood dripping down his companion's arm, he eyed a man standing under them, a shiny silver handgun gripped in his hand. Despite the fact that he couldn't open his mouth to say anything in fear he'd puke, he took the risk of scowling and grabbing for his own gun.

"No, Dent! Move!" shouted the wounded warrior as he scrambled to take hold of the next rung. Another shot rang out and Harvey ducked, pressing into the rope ladder as much as he could before continuing sloppily up the ladder, making it twist and swerve more violently than ever before. When he finally made it to the top, Rachel was there to greet him, holding out her hand and pulling him up.

"Harvey, what's going on down there?"

"Guy with a gun. Clark's got hit. We need to help him."

A tall man bolted out from a shaded part, stood at the edge and pulled out a bow. "Hey, Seb!"

"Yeah?"

"Do us all a favor and don't move."

"A'right."

With that, the man pulled back an arrow and fired it toward the ground. For a moment, nothing happened before… BANG! An fiery explosion shook the ground (or, at least he _thought _it did), and the man with the gun caught on fire, his running around in circles not exactly helping his cause. Satisfied with his work, the man with the bow leapt from the helicopter and bounced down the ladder, swung his arm around Clark's waist, and helped him the rest of the way up the ladder.

Clark collapsed against the wall, hand still bandaging his wounded shoulder. "Well, that was fun, wasn't it?"

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, rushing over to his side and attempting to pry his hand away from the wound.

"Yeah. That was nothing."

"Who was that with the arrows?" Harvey pushed forward.

"That was Agent Barton, like I told you. He's the best damn archer this world has ever seen. We kid him by calling him "Hawkeye" 'cause he has eyes like a hawk. It's really pretty impressive, no?"

"Yeah, I guess. He was able to hit a bomb in the middle of the night with a bunch of headlights to light his way."

Clark frowned. "A bomb? He didn't hit a bomb. He hit the button on the remote I had earlier. That baby was connected to a bomb."

Rachel rubbed her eyes, suddenly distracted from the blood on her companion's arm. "Wait, he hit that teeny little remote?"

Clark beamed again. "You better believe it. Like I said, he's the best damn…"

"Excuse me." Rachel stepped back as the tall man from earlier; Hawkeye apparently; strode back over to the injured agent, an emergency medical kit in his hand. He knelt next to him and touched Clark's hand, which immediately went slack and dropped from his shoulder. Rachel observed this and smiled slightly, finding it the slightest bit cute and amusing.

"How are you feeling, Sebastian?"

"I'm, um, alright I guess. I'd be better if I got this bullet out of my shoulder."

Hawkeye smirked. "Naturally. Now, try to relax. This might sting a bit." He drew a pair of tweezers from the medical kit and positioned them over the bullet wound.

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, but she didn't need to see to know what happened next. Judging from the pained whimpers coming from their companion, she could guess that he penetrated the wound with the tweezers and dug around to find the intrusive bullet.

"And… it's… gone." With that declaration from Hawkeye, she turned back to the scene. He was wrapping some gauze tightly around the wound, Clark staring at him fascinatedly as he did so, like he couldn't believe that it was actually _his arm. _She eyed the bloody bullet on the floor and bit her lip.

"That should be good enough for now. You gonna be okay, Seb?"

Clark glanced up at his companion's face and quickly looked away (was that a blush?). "Yeah, I should. Thanks, Barton."

"Please, call me Clint. I've never been one for the 'last name' thing." With that, he stood up to leave, paying no mind to the increasing blush on Clark's face. The silence that followed was deafening before it was broken by Harvey Dent.

"So, what was the mission you were talking about?"

The mischievous gleam returned to his eyes. "How do you guys feel about a prison break?"

**Soooo continue? What do you think of Sebby? Please let me know! Comments are love, so gimme some. Thanks! -jmpingjaxx13**


	3. A New Teammate

**Disclaimer: As much as I really want to, I own none of this except for my awesome OCs**

Even before he'd been blown up, Loki hadn't been having a good day. Then again, how could you have a good day when you were being held on earth, powers robbed from you, and being hunted down by crazy men in suits? He scurried behind a corner and watched as the men continued running forward, oblivious of his obvious escape. He slid down the wall panting, rolling his eyes at the idiocy of the men for falling for the oldest trick in the book. Looking around, he realized not for the first time that he would rather be at home than here in Gotham City: Crime Haven and Psycho Central. Even the supposed hero, "Batman" that called him, was known to be a little on the radical side of things. Loki licked his lips and sighed, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the bat caught up to him, too.

As he sat there willing the air to return to his lungs, he saw something rather peculiar, even for a place like Gotham. Across the street were four people; a woman with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, a man with sandy blonde hair and an incredible scar taking up half of his face, a man with caramel colored hair who was obviously the youngest, and a man that he so hatefully recognized as one of the Avengers; Hawkeye. Loki scowled when he saw him, wishing that he still had his powers so that he could vaporize the damn bastard on the spot, but took notice instead of what the group was wearing. Each of them was clad in a large black trench coat, wires protruding from the inside and attaching themselves to devices all over their bodies. There were earpieces in their ears and they walked in such a manner that drove Loki to believe that they were up to no good. So, of course, Loki had to join in. After looking both ways down his side of the sidewalk to make sure nobody was after him, he bolted across the street and caught up with them in seconds.

"It's a little warm out here to be dressed in so much black, Barton. Would you like me to take your coat for you?" Clint jumped and turned quickly around to see Loki standing behind him, a smirk evident on his face. The other agents followed suit when he pulled out his weapon, aiming it for the trickster's head.

"What are you doing here, Loki?" Loki raised his hands in surrender.

"I am merely trying to live my life. As you are well aware, I was sent here as a punishment for our, ah, _little episode _a few months ago and have honestly been running from people ever since I arrived. The citizens of this city obviously do not take kindly to travelers."

"If by that you mean they don't take kindly to criminals, then you're right." Loki shook his head.

"Dear Hawkeye, I have not yet done a single thing to patronize you. Have you not seen me properly? I can hardly believe that I look at all like a criminal in this state."

Hawkeye looked closely at the Asgardian for the first time that day and saw that he was right. His robes were in tatters, scrapes marred his knuckles and limbs, his pale face had faded to a crystal white, and his eyelids drooped tiredly, grey circles manifested themselves under them. He barely looked fit enough to walk down the street, much less pull a heist. Hawkeye grunted and lowered his weapon before gesturing for the others to do the same.

"Alright, you got me there. Still, what do you want? My friends and I are kind of busy." Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I can see that. What are you planning on doing with those wires, Barton? Spying on the mayor, perhaps? Or maybe you are robbing a bank. I hear that's pretty popular here." The youngest one scowled.

"That's none of your business, convict. Leave us alone." Loki crossed his arms.

"And who might you be?"

"Sebastian Clark, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I suppose you know who they are." Loki shrugged his shoulders and replied with an offhanded wave.

"Oh yes, I have become quite familiar with them. But what, do tell, would they have business with here? Doesn't the legendary "Batman" take care of everything?"

"Yeah, well, he might be doing alright now, but all his efforts aren't going to be worth shit if we can't get done with what we're doing, so bug off."

Sensing that this kid was going to be incredibly easy to crack, Loki decided to have a bit of fun with him. He forced a concerned look onto his face. "All of his efforts? But aren't all of his enemies locked away in that asylum?"

The brunette bit her lip and reached for Clark's shoulder. "Sebastian, I really don't think…"

"No, it's alright," he shrugged her hand off before turning back to Loki. "You see, buddy, all his enemies are extremely powerful and could mean total destruction if they fall into the wrong hands."

Loki frowned. "You make them sound like objects of value, much like the Tesseract," he glanced nervously at Hawkeye as he said that, hoping that he wouldn't jump in. Fortunately for him, all the archer did was lick his lips and keep his focus on the brown-eyed boy that was blabbering away. "So I suppose that you're doing your best to keep them away from any opposing forces then."

Clark puffed out his chest. "You better believe it."

Loki smiled inwardly. _I've got them right where I want them. Time for the kill. _"But if they remain hostage in that asylum, then who's to know if an enemy were to steal them away."

"Sebastian!" pushed in the brunette, but he just ignored her.

"Exactly! That's why they're not staying there."

"So you're breaking them out?'

"Yes!" The other three on the team stared at him and his jaw dropped slowly, only just beginning to register what he said. "Umm, I mean, pfft…of course not, you silly little Asgardian, you. Haha, that would be ridiculous."

Unconvinced, Loki turned to Clint. "Would you like my help?"

Hawkeye blinked, clearly taken aback by the offer. "W…what?"

"My help, fool! I mean, who better to assist in releasing the insane and chaotic than the God of Chaos himself? Now, I ask again; would you like my help?" The trickster offered his hand, which Hawkeye reluctantly took.

"I guess. Director Fury was going to send us after you next, so I guess we could kill two birds with one stone."

"Charmed."

Clint shook his head. "Charming you really wasn't the point."

The man with sandy blonde hair twisted a knob on his earpiece and spoke for the first time. "Hey, Barton. If we're going to get this done, we're gonna need to go now. Maria's got all the bombs set and ready to go and their on a timer."

Clint frowned. "How long, Dent?"

"30 minutes."

"That doesn't give us much time," he grumbled, shoving his lowered bow back inside his jacket. "Let's go."

* * *

Even though its intentions were isolation and imprisonment, Loki could not help but feel impressed by the asylum. Its thick concrete walls towered high above their heads, dampening the sounds of its inhabitant's screams. Once entered, though, it was impossible not to take notice of them, feeling almost as if you had stepped into a different world. The acoustics in the hallways were perfectly designed to resonate even the smallest of sounds so that they would know if a fly had passed gas somewhere in the asylum. So, naturally, the sounds of their careless footsteps echoed loudly throughout the building, announcing their arrival to everyone who happened to be in the building. Loki looked to his right and saw the man from earlier, Dent apparently, obsessively checking his watch and murmuring things like "20 minutes left. Aw, shit," as they followed the archer through the twisted maze of the asylum.

Once they turned a certain corner, Hawkeye stopped in his tracks and looked around the otherwise empty hallway. Or, at least Loki _thought _it was emptied, and was quickly proven wrong when an elderly lady stepped out from the shadows. She wore a long paisley skirt and a button-up top, her gray hair restrained into a tight bun on top of her head, and her blue eyes bugged out of her head, giving her a wild, unstable appearance. The woman strode forward at a remarkable speed for her age and looked Hawkeye straight in the eye.

"Hello, sssssoonny. Isssn't this wonderful weatthhher?" she hissed, making Loki cringe. He hadn't had very good experiences with creatures that hissed, namely dwarves. He shivered at the memory, bringing one hand up to his lips and rubbing them lightly. Fortunately for the group, Hawkeye had obviously never gambled with a dwarf and responded quickly.

"Yes, of course, but I always carry an umbrella." _Umbrella_. The code word that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been using since its creation. Loki smiled at the tackinessof the word choice. _Some things never change, _he thought.

The lady quickly strode over to a wall and knocked on it three times. By the third time, the wall began to open inward, revealing an entire new section of the asylum. This part resembled a vault, its rounded interior with a spinning knob on each cell door. Loki didn't know too much about earth practices, but he didn't need to be told anything to figure out that this was the high-security room, where all of that Bat's little buddies were to spend the rest of their lives. Or so they were told. Loki knew that once they entered that vault, not only would his life be changed, but everyone's life would change. Permenantly. With that in mind, he followed Hawkeye into the vault, which immediately sealed itself, sealing all of their fates instantly.

**Dun dun dun! Whaddaya think? Please leave some reviews. I should have the next chapter up by Monday if not sooner. Thanks!**

**-jumpingjaxx13**


	4. Dr Crane

**Disclaimer: Me no own nothing**

Loki wasn't exactly sure what he had expected, but it surely wasn't the hellish prison that was laid out before him. As he followed Hawkeye through the endless hallway of cells, he winced at the glass cages that held these people like animals. More often than not, there would be stains of blood splattered on the inside walls and its inhabitants would be bound in a straitjacket, wriggling around, trying to break free. He couldn't help but notice that the farther down the corridor they went, the more interesting the captives became. There were men with mutated hands clawing at the walls and women with solid red eyes that looked like they bored into your soul. Loki wouldn't be surprised if they did.

As the group continued down the hall, a certain prisoner caught his eye. Inside one of the cells was a man bound in a straightjacket, but he did not struggle against it like the others. No, this man just seemed to accept his fate and rested on a bed, his blue eyes tired and droopy like he hadn't slept in days, yet they sparkled with a fiery curiosity as he watched the group pass. His brown hair was disheveled while still being presentably neat all while avoiding the majority of his forehead, almost like there was an invisible boundary that it was not allowed to cross. The look on his face was bored and disinterested mixed with knowing and curious, showing off every emotion he was feeling while still keeping them locked away, unable to be detected by the human eye. Just by looking at him, Loki knew that he was a man of a thousand contradictions. Even more so, he felt extremely drawn to him, almost hypnotically. He took a step forward and the man looked up at him, meeting Loki's eyes for the first time, and Loki was captivated. He found that, no matter how hard he tried, he could not break away from the prisoner's gaze. _What sort of magic is this? _he wondered, letting himself get sucked deeper and deeper into the man's eyes. To this day, Loki believed that he may have stood there for the rest of his days had a certain female agent not woken him up.

"Loki, come on. We're gonna deal with him later," called a feminine voice, pulling him out of his trance. Loki turned and saw Agent Rachel Dawes standing behind him, arms crossed. Further down the hall was the rest of the group. Obviously they had kept walking and the world _didn't _stop when he laid eyes on the man. Doing his best to keep himself from blushing, he followed the agent down the twisting corridors as they tried to catch up with the rest of the group.

"He's pretty, isn't he?" Dawes said suddenly, startling Loki.

"W-what?"

"That guy you were staring at. His name's Jonathan Crane. He's one of the people we're going to be picking up today." She pressed a couple buttons on her watch and read a message that popped up (in code, of course). "I've got all his files right here, not to mention I used to work with him, more or less. Never liked him all that much, though. Guy used to irritate the crap out of me. Nonetheless, I can answer pretty much any question you have about him."

Loki smirked and raised an eyebrow. Dawes punched his arm. "Anything but that!"

Loki laughed, and Rachel went as far as to smile.

"In all seriousness, though. Is there anything you want to know about him?" Loki considered the question for a minute.

"Is he involved in any sort of magic?" he asked eventually, the look on his face expressing that he was being completely serious.

"Is he involved in _magic?_" Dawes questioned, mimicking Loki's responding nod. "Um, not that I know of. I mean, the only _magical _thing he's ever really done is throw poison in people's faces to make them scream."

"So he's the Fear Doctor?" He had heard of him while listening in on people's conversations, but he had always imagined him as an old man with crooked yellow teeth and crazed eyes that bugged out of his pale, skeletal head. He had never imagined that the person responsible for all of the chaos and destruction that had been described could be as young and attractive as he was. It was a refreshing thought.

Dawes nodded. "Yeah, that's him. It was he and this League of Shadows that caused the infamous 'Fear Night' where the water supply was poisoned with his toxin and drove the city off its rocker."

"Now, is this 'League of Shadows' the threat we're fighting?"

Dawes shook her head. "I wish. Nah, we're against this new supernatural terrorist group called the Haminitati. Ever heard of them?"

"I wish I could say I had, but no."

"Yeah, well, apparently they're pretty powerful, though we have no idea how. They've been making some threats against us lately, saying that they're going to rule us; they're going to take us over."

"Sound like anyone you know, convict?" Sebastian Clark interjected, abandoning the other two men in favor of Rachel and Loki's company. Apparently the conversations between Barton and Dent were too dry for the younger man's tastes.

"Now, don't go pointing fingers, kid. I have been nothing but cooperative all day," countered Loki, sounding a little hurt. Sebastian rolled his eyes and kept walking, positioning himself so that he was on the opposite side of Rachel than Loki.

"So, anyway, about them taking over, is it just S.H.I.E.L.D. they're ticked at -"

"Nope," Clark interrupted with a wicked gleam in his eye. "They're talkin' about the whole damn world."

"So, in order to save the world, you need the help of villains that want nothing more than to watch this same world burn?"

"They are just as capable of saving the world as the heroes are, Loki," Rachel said, fiddling with her watch again. "They just need some help redirecting their strengths."

"Redirecting their strengths, ha! What they need help with -" Clark started, but he was cut off.

"You know what, Sebastian? Why don't you go walk next to Loki so I can have some more room to work on the gizmos on my watch. I wouldn't want to accidentally hit you with something." Rachel asked, though Loki could tell that it was really more of a plea. Fortunately for her but not so fortunately for the Asgardian, Sebastian complied. The only good that came out of the switch was that it shut the kid up for once, which Loki decided was better than nothing. He looked at Clark and saw that one of his shoulders was tightly bandaged.

"How did that happen?" he asked innocently, honestly wanting to know how the agent had gotten injured. What he got for his concern, though, was a scowl and a "Back off!". Loki made a note not to ask any more questions.

After what seemed like forever, they reached a dead-end in the hallway. Hawkeye knelt down by the wall and pried open a rusty circuit panel. He whipped a pocket knife from his pocket and sawed at a few of the wires relentlessly; like he had just found out they had killed his puppy. Almost immediately, Loki heard the sound of the heavy doors sliding open slowly, like they were unsure about what was going on. Much to his embarrassment, Loki sympathized with the doors.

Hawkeye stood. "Alright, I've got the specific doors open. Everyone we need is bound, so we're gonna have to give them a hand. Dent, you get The Bane. Dawes, see what you can do with Dr. Crane. Clark, you grab Ms. al Ghul. Loki, see if you can handle the Joker. Then everybody meet me back here so we can get out of here before the bomb goes off and we all die. Capiche?"

"Actually, Agent Barton, could I trade with Loki? You see, the Joker's always had this thing for me, so I think he'd take more kindly to me showing up," Rachel asked. Hawkeye shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine. Loki, you go get Crane then. Now move out! We've only got, like, 10 minutes left." The group complied, scampering to go find their open door.

Rachel punched Loki in the shoulder as she passed him (how on earth was she so fast?), whispering in his ear. "You can thank me later." Loki shook his head, amused.

Dr. Crane's cell was a little way's walk down the corridor, so Loki had time to admire the stunned faces of the other prisoners as he walked past. Once he did get to his desired destination, though, he was stopped at the door by a voice coming from inside.

"I had a feeling you'd be back, particularly after I saw that you were with Ms. Dawes." Loki looked at the man, Jonathan Crane apparently. He had a weak smile on his face, but his eyes were full of pain. "So, is it over? Has he finally come to kill me?"

"Who?"

"The Batman." Judging by the relief on his face when he said that, Loki guessed that he had figured out that he barely even knew his history, much less working with the Batman on destroying him.

"Sorry, buddy, but there's no Batman here. Just a bunch of Fury's goons." Loki said as he walked carefully over to him, undoing the latches on his straightjacket.

Crane raised an eyebrow. "Fury? As in Nick Fury?"

"The one and only," Loki grumbled. Now he saw why people had such a hard time getting out of straightjackets.

"What would they want with me?"

Loki shrugged; grinning victoriously as he finally got the jacket undone. "You'd have to ask them. All I know is that it involves a supernatural terrorist group and they want you and a bunch of others to help stop them."

Crane frowned as he shrugged the jacket off. "That isn't much to go on."

"Welcome to my world. Now, come on. This place is gonna blow any minute and I would prefer not to be in it when it does."

* * *

By the time the duo made it back to the rendezvous point, all of the other agents had already brought back their prisoners, though he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to call them that anymore, now that they were teammates and everything. Standing next to Rachel was a tall man with greasy, wavy, green hair that reminded Loki of seaweed and two ugly scars of either side of his mouth that dragged his lips up into a permanent smile. Loki took a guess and decided that was the Joker. Then, next to Dent was probably the largest human he had ever seen. He was tall, bald, and he looked strong enough to take on a Frost Giant using nothing but his bare hands and win. But what stuck out the most about him was the large contraption covering up half of his face, leaving only his eyes to be gazed upon. That was the Bane. Standing possessively near him while still being visibly next to the youngest agent was a beautiful lady with brown hair and intense blue eyes that burned with hate. That and the way her body was positioned screamed that she was not to be messed with. Talia al Ghul. Hawkeye cleared his throat.

"Alright, so I was wrong. As of now, we've only got one and a half minutes left, and the time is ticking, so we need to get out of-"

"WHAT?" Clark cried, stumbling backward. "What do you mean you were WRONG? You're never wrong!"

"Sebastian-"

"No! Tell me you're lying, Clint. Tell me you're lying!"

"Seb, shut up!" Rachel interjected. Sebastian turned and glared at her, his eyes burning liking a wildfire.

"You shut up, you bitch! I am a grown man and a legal adult! I can handle myself!"

"Well, you haven't done a very good job!"

"You really want to go there Miss 'I got blown up by a stupid clown'?" Loki could hear the Joker snicker.

"Clark, I swear, if you don't stop talking, I'm gonna…" Unfortunately, she never got to voice what she would do if Clark didn't stop talking, for at that moment the ticking clock stopped at zero, causing the bomb in the building to activate.

For Loki, time froze. That second seemed to take forever, and he was hyperaware of everything happening around him; the hollow sound of his breath; the high-pitched beeping of the explosives preparing to go off; the intense blue color of his new companion's wide eyes.

"Oh," he breathed as he tried to grab onto someone to push them to safety, but his arm became heavier than lead and the air turned to gelatin around him. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the hallway catch on fire and the doors flew off with a long, thunderous pop.

"Oops." He muttered before the rest of the building followed suit and he was catapulted into the air, barely coherent as he flew through walls of flames and broken bits and pieces of concrete. He could feel the flames licking at his legs and the flying shards of glass cutting deeply into his arms, but the pain he expected never came. He was utterly numb.

Loki landed on the ground a few yards away from the explosion. There was a loud crack and he rolled his head over to see that he had hit his head on a piece of the rubble. He slowly raised his hand and brushed the tips of his fingers against the back of his head and brought them back in front of his face. There was warm blood dripping down his fingers, making exquisite designs as it crisscrossed with the cuts and scratches already present up and down his arm. Loki watched the blood spill and drip down his arm and onto the rocks and grass next to him, making him dizzy.

"Hey! Is everyone alright? Sebastian? Loki? Talia?" droned a distant, near unidentifiable tone. Loki couldn't process what they were saying; his only reality was the crimson river flowing down his forearm and past his elbow, creating a waterfall of ruby life.

Loki pulled the corners of his lips into a weak, tired smile. "I…I'm bleeding," he observed as he turned his wrist around, his eyes drooping further until they were almost closed. "Bleeding…" Then his arm went limp and the world turned black before it hit the ground

**K, I know I promised that I'd have this up, like, two weeks ago, but I've been busy as hell. Thanks for sticking by this, though. **

**Soooo whaddaya think? Please leave reviews. **

**-jumpingjaxx13**


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